Friendship Is The Greatest Gift
by AdorableElephant
Summary: Co-written with Marie S Zachary.  Monk has recieved a gift from an angel.  Julie is going to die.  Can he bring himself to do what's right?  Rated "T" for slight, slight, slight language.


**Friendship Is The Greatest Gift**

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Heylow! This is a brand-new, shiney fanfic co-written with Marie S Zachary! I really hope you like it! Don't forget to review! ;)

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Natalie came into Monk's house and slammed the door tears falling down her eyes.

"DAMN," she yelled, "DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!"

Not only was her day GOING ROTTON but she had just found out that her daughter's leukemia was back WITH A VENGANCE. Julie had a rare bone marrow type. Her only match was Mitch. GOD THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO UNFAIR, she thought to herself.

"Natalie," Monk said, "I get the feeling you're upset about something."

Natalie glared at him, her eyes full of tears, then sighed and sat down.

"Julie had a relapse."

"You mean, her leukemia's..." Monk trailed off tentatively.

"Back." Natalie finished.

"Oh..." Monk sat down next to Natalie at the table, feeling overwhelmed. "I'm sorry Natalie."

Natalie put a hand on Adrian's shoulder. Monk fought the urge to remove it.

"Mr. Monk, I don't know what to do."

"Well the first thing you're going to do," he said, "is calm down. I mean Julie survived once so who's to say she won't survive this time?"

"Well it's a little more complicated then that," Natalie said, "She had to have a bone marrow transplant when she was first sick."

"So can't she have another one?" he asked.

"She has a very rare type of bone marrow. Quinticept. Mitch was the only person in the world with that same type. The doctors say without a  
transplant she'll be dead in less then a year."

Monk felt his stomach turn to ice. His gift... the gift the angel had given him... but it was his... Natalie knew about the gift... but how could she expect him to... but how could he expect himself not to... it was as if his heart and his heart were at war with each other. Natalie's tears were falling fast.

"I can't lose Julie," she whispered.

"You won't." Monk said. "She'll get the transplant."

Monk didn't know what he was doing. He better stop himself before he made any promises. But he couldn't.

"No, Monk, I've told you that's impossible… Mitch would have to… wait… Mr. Monk, no! Your gift? That's yours. You can't use it for… no. It's yours."

"Natalie. You're right. It's my gift. I'll use it for what I want to use it for, and I want to use it for Julie. To bring Mitch back."

"Mr. Monk I can't accept that." Natalie objected, her eyes still full of tears. But Monk thought he could see a shimmer of hope behind those tears and he knew what he had to do.

"You have to." He said.

Monk put a hand on Natalie's shoulder.

"Thank you." She said, a small smile on her face, despite the tears that were still falling.

In a voice that wasn't his own and barely recognizable he said softly, "Natalie, if I couldn't swim you wouldn't hog the boat for yourself would you?"

"Of course not," she said.

"Exactly. I'm not about to let Julie or you drown just because I'm afraid to get wet."  
Monk felt tears sting his eyes. He thought it was all over now but the fates had something special planned for him. Heaven never leaves an unselfish act unrewarded.

Julie got there a little late today.

"Hey Mr. Monk," she said cheerfully.

"Hi Julie."

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Monk tried to smile back.

"Mr. Monk is an amazing person," Natalie told her daughter.

"Yeah I know." Julie smiled.

"No I mean he's really special."

"Natalie it's no big deal."

"What's no big deal?" Julie asked looking tired.

"Julie." Natalie said. "Mr. Monk was given a gift. From an angel."

Julie's eyes grew large.

"An angel?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes. The gift he received was a very special one. He can bring any person he wants back to life."

Julie's eyes grew wider still.

"So I'll finally get to meet Trudy?" she excitedly asked.

"No..." Natalie trailed off.

But Mr. Monk knew what to say.

"Julie," he said, kneeling down, "I'm bringing back your father."

Julie's eyes could not have been bigger without falling out of her head.

"Dad?" she whispered.

"Yeah Sweetie!" Natalie said. "Dad! And you know what that means, don't you?"

"I'll get the transplant!"

Julie hugged Monk, who didn't even mind it. He gave her a small hug back and watched as she attacked her mother with a hug as well.

"Thank you Mr. Monk!" she yelped.

"Now," he told her finally, "You must be starving. I did research on your condition and I read somewhere that Chicken noodle soup is good for you and will help you fight the cancer and get stronger before the transplant so you can recover more quickly.  
Natalie watched Monk in amazement.

"So," he added, "I made you some of my special chicken noodle soup. It's got ten peices of chicken in it and 10 noodles in it.  
Julie eat it hungrily and thanked him.

"There's just one more thing," he said, "I know sometimes you're having trouble sleeping... and I don't want you taking strong medications if you don't have to. If you need to sleep and you're having trouble use this."

He left the room. Natalie and Julie looked at each other confused. What could Mr. Monk be getting? He came back carrying something that Natalie recognized. Julie had never seen the Trudy pillow before so she didn't know how much it meant.

"This always helps me to sleep when I can't." he said.

"Thanks," Julie replied smiling, "Thanks for everything. You're a great friend"  
Julie went to go lay down as she was fighting off a headache. Natalie stared at Monk... her eyes lighting up.

"You really are incredible."

"It's no big deal," Monk said, "Oh Natalie I have to ask you a little favor."

"Sure," Natalie said, "I'll do anything for you."

"Take tomorrow off," he said, "and spend the day with your daughter."

Natalie almost asked if Mr. Monk was sure, but she didn't need too. The look in his eye told her he was.

The end of the month was fast approaching and Monk grew more and more anxious with every day. He knew he couldn't change his mind now, even if he wanted to (which he most certainly didn't), but that didn't rid him any more of the nasty feeling that he would have to make a very important decision very soon. The unease that settled over Monk those last few days was unlike anything he'd felt in a long time. After all, the whole ordeal had been quite a bit of a strange one. Monk almost wished that he didn't know when the angel would be coming back. It would have made preparing for it a lot easier.

And so it was, the day the angel came, Monk could be found deep in thought on his couch.

When Monk explained what he was going to do the angel smiled.

"I must say now I am impressed. I knew you were a good man. Therefore as a reward I am going to give you a gift. In addition to bringing Mitch back... I will also bring Trudy back. There's one thing you must do though. You must go one month without using more then 10 wipes a day. Boss's orders."

Monk smiled. "Will do."

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Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!


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